Artificial-sweetener compositions have been employed for imparting sweeteners to food, beverage, confectionery and other products, and more particularly artificial-sweetener agents and compositions have been used by persons affected by physiological disorders, such as diabetes mellitus, and by those persons who must restrict their caloric intake as part of a weight-control regimen. Artificial-sweetener agents are useful not only in food and beverages, but also are useful in certain oral and cosmetic compositions.
Sweetening and flavoring characteristics have been imparted to various compositions by the use of various synthetic sweeteners. The most commonly used artificial sweeteners are the compounds of saccharin. A number of dihydrochalcone glycosides and dihydrochalcones has been known to impart a sweet taste, such as, for example, those compounds as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,087,821; 3,583,984; 3,974,299; 3,976,790; 3,984,394; and 4,013,801. The dihydrochalcones appear to be nontoxic and potentially attractive as nonsugar-sweetener agents, especially because they are noncaloric, not having any insulin requirement. However, a number of dihydrochalcone glycosides has not proven to be satisfactory wholly, because of their limited solubility in water and a lingering aftertase.
Important factors to be considered in the selection and use of a chalcone sweetener or any sweetener are water solubility, nondiscoloration with time and aftertaste properties. Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC) has very limited water solubility (3.6 g/liter at 20.degree. C.: reference--California Aromatics and Flavors, Inc., Bulletin, page 111). In addition, an aqueous NHDC solution has been found to develop a yellow discoloration over a period of time which is or will be quite objectionable in sweetener compositions. A further deterrent to the adoption and use of NHDC is its aftertaste properties.
The dihydrochalcones, especially NHDC, display a somewhat slow onset of sweet taste, followed by a lingering menthol-like aftertaste. Thus, the use of NHDC as such probably will be restricted to certain confections and in pharmaceuticals in which the taste characteristics of NHDC are acceptable. In order to use NHDC as a food additive in various other food preparations, the lingering taste should be eliminated or reduced to a minimal acceptable level, so that NHDC sweetener compositions can be used together with a variety of food preparations, without any undesired effect on the normal taste of the food.